Goings on

Math Trades:

I picked up a few board games in a math trade which closed the other day. I’m actually pretty excited to see them hit the table once they drop through the slot. I turned over a few stones to find a website called Fortressat.com. It’s kinda like Boardgamegeek.com ‘s cooler cigarette smoke’n , whisky swill’n, profanity drop’n cousin. If you’ve actually been to a family reunion you know the one, that being said, if you’ve been to enough to spot him, you also know you’re not him. So maybe this site isn’t for you.

I got War of the Ring, Mighty Empires from my wants list as well as Britania from my interest list and Nun’s on the Run from my filler list. I sent out Republic of Rome, Funny Friends, Roll through the Ages as well as the final pieces of an O&G fantasy army. Besides Republic, all I had to give up was chaff for two coveted gems and two others that will see some table time.

I’ve been hunting for a deal on War of the ring for a while now. The price tag for shipping has always been a bear never mind that the game itself weighs in slightly less. It’s a two player game that takes a few hours to get through but really pays off in strategy. To date my best outcome was  a Free Peoples military victory.  I’m interested in seeing how well my beautiful bride plays this one, she’s a thinker, so getting any sort of victory would be an accomplishment.

                        Mighty Empires looks like it could be similar to War of the ring, but scaled down in complexity if not in play time. I’ve always liked games like civilization focusing on military victory, so I have high hopes this will satisfy. If not, well there is always e-bay or another math trade.

                        Britania looks like it’ll go over ok with my game group. I’ve yet to play it so it really could go either way.

                        Nun’s on the run is a great filler game if we have more players then the selected game allows, or less time to get through one of the behemoths we usually play finished. It plays ok with 2, but really shines with 4+.

Low Brow & High Art:

I read through an article today about Bjork, spurred on by a post about music on F:AT about an upcoming music review, which lead me to think about Mat Barney and his Cremaster cycle (I get a serious hard on for these sorts of thought streams). So I thread jacked to talk about it. Really good shit. I’ve also put together a group on FB which has collected a fair number of really interesting articles, images and artists over the years. I started it in 2007 but let the ball drop in the great group purge of 2010 by FB, so the number fell to 0. The numbers are still low, but have been picking up lately. I want to especially give a shout out to David Irvine who “Re-Directs” paintings. He takes paintings you find on street corners, flea markets, garage sales and add’s his personal touch. Tres cool!

Investing:

So, I’ve been spending a lot of energy playing within my TFSA lately. I’m $200 up in less than a year on $2K, half of it is in a natural gas co, that is currently eating into the captured gains, but I have faith in the co overall, so a bounce back is inevitable. The other half is mostly invested in a midstream in anticipation of $200 oil after July, and the remainder was tossed into a mining co with some serious potential in the Shafter mine as well as promising expansions at La Negra. Since getting married and spawning a wee snot sprite, I’ve had to cull my vices & this TFSA fills a void. The overall goal is to raise $5K for a trip to Brazil for the World cup and so far I believe that I could end up with $’s left over. But, then again, the captain of the titanic believed the hype and went full steam ahead.